Chapter 2: Will to Play
"I don't wanna play!" Asuka yelled.
"It's not up to you to choose," Misato shot back.
Midnight in the Katsuragi Residence. Shinji and Rei were already asleep, but Asuka had stayed up to continue her ongoing argument with Misato.
"It's just a stupid band! We can't even play! Are you telling me that Shinji, me, Rei, and you can actually be something more than some sort of groveling, begging street band playing for coins in a back alley?"
"Look, you may not want to do it, but it's a necessity. When Shinji first suggested-"
"Stupid Baka."
"When Shinji first suggested this idea to me," Misato continued, quite miffed at the interruption, "I was skeptical as well. But think of it this way. You're out of college, but who's going to hire a 15-year-old girl with little knowledge of kanji and a history of extreme violence involving monsters and plotters seeking the end of the world? Not to mention perpetrating a systematic regimen of domestic abuse-ahem-Shinji-which, um, I don't really mind that much, but which could be held against you when you try to get hired."
"Uh, yea. Whatever you just said, Misato."
"What I'm saying is that this band is really our only viable option, short of prostituting ourselves on the street. None of us can get a job because Nerv won't risk us working for anyone else-we might give some information away. We can't be painters or scam artists, because that takes natural talent. We can try to run a business ourselves, but that'd make NERV nervous, because business means power." She chuckled to herself.
"Look, I just want what's best for this household, Asuka. I hope you understand."
Asuka sighed, and closing her eyes, she tried to imagine them as a band. She couldn't.
"I still don't see how this is going to work."
"It's going to work," Misato said confidently. "I've done my research, and, if you all promise to work diligently together, you will all accomplish more than any band has EVER, EVER achieved. The singular combination of all your talents statistically surpasses that of even the long lost Beatles."
Asuka laughed. "Really. Maybe you're on to something. How long does it take to learn the guitar, anyway?"
Misato perked up. "So you're interested, hey?"
"Heck no. I just want something to do in my free time."
"Well, if you ever want to join in, there's a guitar in your room. I made it myself. Not too bad a handiwork, if you ask me. And don't worry. Guitar is relatively easy."
"Well, excuse me," Asuka said, standing up the table and walking from the kitchen. "If you ever want a slave, it's going to be slavery on my terms."
Her footsteps echoed behind her. Misato looked out the window. What a bother. Although Asuka was by no means an easy person to convince, Misato didn't think she'd meet this much resistance. Asuka was practically her daughter. They'd known each other for so long, lived together for so long. Then again, Asuka was growing. Soon, she'd be off…off… not to college, but to…what? Or rather, Who? Whoever it was, Asuka wouldn't be easily subdued. If she married, it'd have to be someone even more demanding and imperious than her. Someone crazier than her. But one thing was undeniable-her status as a single lady was as unfixed as a ticking bomb. She was far too beautiful to go unclaimed. And there had to be someone worse than her around.
It'd be a pity for her to end up like me, Misato thought.
In the living room, Asuka passed by Shinji as she made her way to her room.
Couldn't he sleep in his own room? She looked back at him. Snoring peacefully, like the stupid Baka he was.
I wonder who he's dreaming of, she thought.
--------
"Gr….." Shinji tossed to his left side.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!"
"Huh…"
"Hello, Baka! It's time to wake up!"
"Can you wake me later? I'm going back to sleep…"
He tossed over and fell back asleep.
---
"WAKE UP!!!!"
Shinji sighed. How much sleep had he gotten since the last time?
The birds weren't even out yet. He groaned and looked at the clock.
"It's 6 am, Asuka-"
"DON'T Asuka me! It's time to play!"
"What? Play wha-OUCH! Don't touch the thorns!"
"Why would there be thorns back there?"
"Remember-You-got mad at me-"
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Instead, Asuka grabbed him by the hand and pulled him off the bed. Still in his boxers, Shinji shivered in the cold morning air. She proceeded to drag him through the house. Near Misato's door, she whispered, "This is where you have to go tiptoe. Misato's wasted from the 24-pack last night, but she's got hearing like no other." Asuka then led the way into the garden, which now incorporated the plot of the next door house, which had been bull-dozered to make room for an expanded garden.
Shinji looked around the garden. Nothing new here.
"Alright, Asuka, what is it?"
"Misato told us to develop an acute sense of hearing for our musical training, so I thought up this game!"
"I thought you didn't like the band idea-"
"Well, since everyone else forced me into it, I'm going to be the best…and each of you has to be up to par, too!"
Shinji yawned and rubbed his eyes. Wasn't Asuka always the one to wake up last? Why wasn't Rei here?
"But why are we doing this outside?" he asked.
"Why? Cause it's my idea to do it outside, of course!"
"Why are you up so early?"
"Cause it was such a good idea, I couldn't go back to sleep! Aren't you glad I'm sharing this with you?"
"How's this going to help us play music better?"
"Don't ask stupid questions! Besides, we're going to have fun!"
"Okay, okay."
Shinji was shivering like a weasel. If weasels did shiver, that is.
"Now, go over there and count to 20. You're going to have to find me in the dark just by the sound of my footsteps-"
"How am I-"
"Just do it!"
"Asuka, I'm not a bat!"
"BAKA!" Asuka said as she slapped him on the back of his head.
Shinji turned to face her angrily, but he was surprised to see her smiling sweetly. Or at least that's what it looked like in the dark.
"Do we really have to do this?" he asked.
"Of course not. But if you do, Shinji, you will have fun with me."
Shinji was speechless. He wanted to play, but he was also hungry.
"Asuka, don't you want to eat?"
"Sure I do. After you find me." She pushed at the ground with her foot.
"Count to 20! AND don't peek!"
She turned to run.
Shinji watched as Asuka bounded off happily to the left side of the garden. What had gotten in to her? He closed his eyes, counted to 20 loudly, then took a slow stroll through the garden. He looked at the ground. Asuka was probably hiding down there somewhere. Although the garden wasn't very large, it had underground rooms filled with trees-most likely serving as other laboratories for Misato's crazy experiments. Shinji knew that if he came down there too soon, Asuka might be disappointed at being found so fast. Shinji was always the best at finding, because he was so systematic. Nothing escaped his eye. Sooner or later, if he searched carefully enough, the hidden person would be found. It was impossible to escape him indefinitely.
Unable to decide what to do, he stared up at the dimming stars. In a few minutes, the sun would begin to rise, and the stars would be wiped off the heavenly slate, totally outshone until the demise of the day. He remembered how much Asuka liked the stars. Shinji didn't like them at all. All the empty space made him lonely. Sure, they were blue and beautiful, but they were so separated, so far. He loved the sunrise, though. Its light touched everything. It had warmth. The sun was definitely the bomb.
Suddenly he felt like abandoning the search. It was futile to look for her. What was the meaning of searching for a person who was always by your side? But then, if she evaded him too long, he'd never hear the last of her gloating. He couldn't let her do that.
He set off to the underground tunnel. The door was moldy and slippery, but it opened easily. The damp air of the tunnel tickled his nostrils. This was the tunnel Asuka had discovered a year ago when Misato had gone "AWOL" from NERV for a whole week. Misato had been chained to the wall at the very back, a prisoner of Gendo's treachery. He wanted custody of the children, but Misato persistently defied him. Asuka had eventually freed Misato and exposed Gendo to the police. After that, their lives were more peaceful and normal, or about as normal as life around Asuka could be.
After that incident, they called it Asuka's tunnel. She was really proud of it, and together, the three pilots had explored every nook of its interior. Presently, he entered it and felt his way around. The tunnel only had three unlocked rooms. She had to be in one of those.
He looked around. It was dark, except for traces of shiny pink granite that glinted in the dim light. He felt his way to the end of the corridor and turned right. He was confident that her red hair would easily stand out among all the drab surroundings, and he knew that she was too fidgety to stand silently. But she wasn't in the first two rooms. Approaching the third, he glanced behind his back to re-check the forked passage. Nothing. The floor of the third room was really wet and slippery. What if Asuka hurt herself in here?
Wait-There! A slight rustle. Wait-a door-leading to another room? The lock had been broken.
He walked through the door and peered inside. His mouth dropped open. It was even more humid in this room. Trees and ferns of every kind covered the ground. To make his task even harder, birds chirped and animals chased each other in playful circles. Great. Asuka could be anywhere in this jungle.
He walked to the middle of the room and looked up. The wild brown roof of the tunnel glowed above, sparkling with gems. What? Brown roof? OH wait, this was one of Misato's tunnels. Well, Asuka couldn't be up on the roof. He looked left. Whoa. A wild tiger! That was bad news. To the right-An elephant! He darted through the bushes as fast as his legs could take him. To the front-Asuka!! No, wait- just a red flower. Suddenly the ground collapsed beneath him, and he found himself waist deep in a hot spring. That might have been nice, only the spring contained extremely hot green water. It scorched his skin, and as he struggled to get out, he suddenly spotted the real Asuka. She was far away, waving with her hands and smiling. What was she smiling about? He was about to die in this miserable pool.
"Asuka!" he yelled. "Help me! Why are you standing there?"
Asuka continued smiling. She blew him a gentle kiss, but she didn't budge from her position. He couldn't believe she was just standing there. Desperate, he tried running after her. He suddenly found that he could run much, much faster. He reached her in five seconds.
"Hello, Shinji," she said softly. "Like my outfit?"
She was wearing a bikini of tropical leaves. DA-AAM…Why hadn't he noticed that before?
"It's, nice…"
"I'm bored. Do you want to spin me around, Shinji?"
"Why, sure, darling," he said with a deep, masculine voice. "Anything you want."
He put one arm behind her back, the other under her legs, and spun her. Faster…and faster. The world blurred around them. He continued to spin, but he didn't feel all that dizzy. Asuka howled with delight, even though she was probably dizzy out of her mind. A few minutes into it, he felt nauseous, but a satisfying bliss filled his mind.
He stopped swirling her and kissed her on the forehead. She moaned lightly and smiled.
"Shinji, let's stay like this forever."
He would have been glad to oblige, but suddenly a blinding light entered the tunnel. He couldn't see her anymore. He reached out for her, crying for her to stay. He couldn't see-what was this? A familiar ceiling? Hard bed? Where was he?
"WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!" Misato yelled. "It's morning already!"
Then she mumbled to herself, "I thought I sent Asuka up here to wake you up…"
A groaning Shinji looked up, saw Misato leaning over him, and slapped his forehead.
Only in dreams…
"I don't wanna play!" Asuka yelled.
"It's not up to you to choose," Misato shot back.
Midnight in the Katsuragi Residence. Shinji and Rei were already asleep, but Asuka had stayed up to continue her ongoing argument with Misato.
"It's just a stupid band! We can't even play! Are you telling me that Shinji, me, Rei, and you can actually be something more than some sort of groveling, begging street band playing for coins in a back alley?"
"Look, you may not want to do it, but it's a necessity. When Shinji first suggested-"
"Stupid Baka."
"When Shinji first suggested this idea to me," Misato continued, quite miffed at the interruption, "I was skeptical as well. But think of it this way. You're out of college, but who's going to hire a 15-year-old girl with little knowledge of kanji and a history of extreme violence involving monsters and plotters seeking the end of the world? Not to mention perpetrating a systematic regimen of domestic abuse-ahem-Shinji-which, um, I don't really mind that much, but which could be held against you when you try to get hired."
"Uh, yea. Whatever you just said, Misato."
"What I'm saying is that this band is really our only viable option, short of prostituting ourselves on the street. None of us can get a job because Nerv won't risk us working for anyone else-we might give some information away. We can't be painters or scam artists, because that takes natural talent. We can try to run a business ourselves, but that'd make NERV nervous, because business means power." She chuckled to herself.
"Look, I just want what's best for this household, Asuka. I hope you understand."
Asuka sighed, and closing her eyes, she tried to imagine them as a band. She couldn't.
"I still don't see how this is going to work."
"It's going to work," Misato said confidently. "I've done my research, and, if you all promise to work diligently together, you will all accomplish more than any band has EVER, EVER achieved. The singular combination of all your talents statistically surpasses that of even the long lost Beatles."
Asuka laughed. "Really. Maybe you're on to something. How long does it take to learn the guitar, anyway?"
Misato perked up. "So you're interested, hey?"
"Heck no. I just want something to do in my free time."
"Well, if you ever want to join in, there's a guitar in your room. I made it myself. Not too bad a handiwork, if you ask me. And don't worry. Guitar is relatively easy."
"Well, excuse me," Asuka said, standing up the table and walking from the kitchen. "If you ever want a slave, it's going to be slavery on my terms."
Her footsteps echoed behind her. Misato looked out the window. What a bother. Although Asuka was by no means an easy person to convince, Misato didn't think she'd meet this much resistance. Asuka was practically her daughter. They'd known each other for so long, lived together for so long. Then again, Asuka was growing. Soon, she'd be off…off… not to college, but to…what? Or rather, Who? Whoever it was, Asuka wouldn't be easily subdued. If she married, it'd have to be someone even more demanding and imperious than her. Someone crazier than her. But one thing was undeniable-her status as a single lady was as unfixed as a ticking bomb. She was far too beautiful to go unclaimed. And there had to be someone worse than her around.
It'd be a pity for her to end up like me, Misato thought.
In the living room, Asuka passed by Shinji as she made her way to her room.
Couldn't he sleep in his own room? She looked back at him. Snoring peacefully, like the stupid Baka he was.
I wonder who he's dreaming of, she thought.
--------
"Gr….." Shinji tossed to his left side.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!"
"Huh…"
"Hello, Baka! It's time to wake up!"
"Can you wake me later? I'm going back to sleep…"
He tossed over and fell back asleep.
---
"WAKE UP!!!!"
Shinji sighed. How much sleep had he gotten since the last time?
The birds weren't even out yet. He groaned and looked at the clock.
"It's 6 am, Asuka-"
"DON'T Asuka me! It's time to play!"
"What? Play wha-OUCH! Don't touch the thorns!"
"Why would there be thorns back there?"
"Remember-You-got mad at me-"
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Instead, Asuka grabbed him by the hand and pulled him off the bed. Still in his boxers, Shinji shivered in the cold morning air. She proceeded to drag him through the house. Near Misato's door, she whispered, "This is where you have to go tiptoe. Misato's wasted from the 24-pack last night, but she's got hearing like no other." Asuka then led the way into the garden, which now incorporated the plot of the next door house, which had been bull-dozered to make room for an expanded garden.
Shinji looked around the garden. Nothing new here.
"Alright, Asuka, what is it?"
"Misato told us to develop an acute sense of hearing for our musical training, so I thought up this game!"
"I thought you didn't like the band idea-"
"Well, since everyone else forced me into it, I'm going to be the best…and each of you has to be up to par, too!"
Shinji yawned and rubbed his eyes. Wasn't Asuka always the one to wake up last? Why wasn't Rei here?
"But why are we doing this outside?" he asked.
"Why? Cause it's my idea to do it outside, of course!"
"Why are you up so early?"
"Cause it was such a good idea, I couldn't go back to sleep! Aren't you glad I'm sharing this with you?"
"How's this going to help us play music better?"
"Don't ask stupid questions! Besides, we're going to have fun!"
"Okay, okay."
Shinji was shivering like a weasel. If weasels did shiver, that is.
"Now, go over there and count to 20. You're going to have to find me in the dark just by the sound of my footsteps-"
"How am I-"
"Just do it!"
"Asuka, I'm not a bat!"
"BAKA!" Asuka said as she slapped him on the back of his head.
Shinji turned to face her angrily, but he was surprised to see her smiling sweetly. Or at least that's what it looked like in the dark.
"Do we really have to do this?" he asked.
"Of course not. But if you do, Shinji, you will have fun with me."
Shinji was speechless. He wanted to play, but he was also hungry.
"Asuka, don't you want to eat?"
"Sure I do. After you find me." She pushed at the ground with her foot.
"Count to 20! AND don't peek!"
She turned to run.
Shinji watched as Asuka bounded off happily to the left side of the garden. What had gotten in to her? He closed his eyes, counted to 20 loudly, then took a slow stroll through the garden. He looked at the ground. Asuka was probably hiding down there somewhere. Although the garden wasn't very large, it had underground rooms filled with trees-most likely serving as other laboratories for Misato's crazy experiments. Shinji knew that if he came down there too soon, Asuka might be disappointed at being found so fast. Shinji was always the best at finding, because he was so systematic. Nothing escaped his eye. Sooner or later, if he searched carefully enough, the hidden person would be found. It was impossible to escape him indefinitely.
Unable to decide what to do, he stared up at the dimming stars. In a few minutes, the sun would begin to rise, and the stars would be wiped off the heavenly slate, totally outshone until the demise of the day. He remembered how much Asuka liked the stars. Shinji didn't like them at all. All the empty space made him lonely. Sure, they were blue and beautiful, but they were so separated, so far. He loved the sunrise, though. Its light touched everything. It had warmth. The sun was definitely the bomb.
Suddenly he felt like abandoning the search. It was futile to look for her. What was the meaning of searching for a person who was always by your side? But then, if she evaded him too long, he'd never hear the last of her gloating. He couldn't let her do that.
He set off to the underground tunnel. The door was moldy and slippery, but it opened easily. The damp air of the tunnel tickled his nostrils. This was the tunnel Asuka had discovered a year ago when Misato had gone "AWOL" from NERV for a whole week. Misato had been chained to the wall at the very back, a prisoner of Gendo's treachery. He wanted custody of the children, but Misato persistently defied him. Asuka had eventually freed Misato and exposed Gendo to the police. After that, their lives were more peaceful and normal, or about as normal as life around Asuka could be.
After that incident, they called it Asuka's tunnel. She was really proud of it, and together, the three pilots had explored every nook of its interior. Presently, he entered it and felt his way around. The tunnel only had three unlocked rooms. She had to be in one of those.
He looked around. It was dark, except for traces of shiny pink granite that glinted in the dim light. He felt his way to the end of the corridor and turned right. He was confident that her red hair would easily stand out among all the drab surroundings, and he knew that she was too fidgety to stand silently. But she wasn't in the first two rooms. Approaching the third, he glanced behind his back to re-check the forked passage. Nothing. The floor of the third room was really wet and slippery. What if Asuka hurt herself in here?
Wait-There! A slight rustle. Wait-a door-leading to another room? The lock had been broken.
He walked through the door and peered inside. His mouth dropped open. It was even more humid in this room. Trees and ferns of every kind covered the ground. To make his task even harder, birds chirped and animals chased each other in playful circles. Great. Asuka could be anywhere in this jungle.
He walked to the middle of the room and looked up. The wild brown roof of the tunnel glowed above, sparkling with gems. What? Brown roof? OH wait, this was one of Misato's tunnels. Well, Asuka couldn't be up on the roof. He looked left. Whoa. A wild tiger! That was bad news. To the right-An elephant! He darted through the bushes as fast as his legs could take him. To the front-Asuka!! No, wait- just a red flower. Suddenly the ground collapsed beneath him, and he found himself waist deep in a hot spring. That might have been nice, only the spring contained extremely hot green water. It scorched his skin, and as he struggled to get out, he suddenly spotted the real Asuka. She was far away, waving with her hands and smiling. What was she smiling about? He was about to die in this miserable pool.
"Asuka!" he yelled. "Help me! Why are you standing there?"
Asuka continued smiling. She blew him a gentle kiss, but she didn't budge from her position. He couldn't believe she was just standing there. Desperate, he tried running after her. He suddenly found that he could run much, much faster. He reached her in five seconds.
"Hello, Shinji," she said softly. "Like my outfit?"
She was wearing a bikini of tropical leaves. DA-AAM…Why hadn't he noticed that before?
"It's, nice…"
"I'm bored. Do you want to spin me around, Shinji?"
"Why, sure, darling," he said with a deep, masculine voice. "Anything you want."
He put one arm behind her back, the other under her legs, and spun her. Faster…and faster. The world blurred around them. He continued to spin, but he didn't feel all that dizzy. Asuka howled with delight, even though she was probably dizzy out of her mind. A few minutes into it, he felt nauseous, but a satisfying bliss filled his mind.
He stopped swirling her and kissed her on the forehead. She moaned lightly and smiled.
"Shinji, let's stay like this forever."
He would have been glad to oblige, but suddenly a blinding light entered the tunnel. He couldn't see her anymore. He reached out for her, crying for her to stay. He couldn't see-what was this? A familiar ceiling? Hard bed? Where was he?
"WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!" Misato yelled. "It's morning already!"
Then she mumbled to herself, "I thought I sent Asuka up here to wake you up…"
A groaning Shinji looked up, saw Misato leaning over him, and slapped his forehead.
Only in dreams…